Floor-cleaning machine

ABSTRACT

A floor-cleaning machine comprising a support trolley ( 2 ), on which support trolley ( 2 ) at least a floor-cleaning group ( 7 ) is installed, which floor-cleaning group ( 7 ) is provided with at least a flexible blade ( 70 ) and is mobile on board the support trolley ( 2 ) between a work position, in which the flexible blade ( 70 ) is in contact with a floor, and a rest position, in which the flexible blade ( 70 ) is distanced from the floor, the floor-cleaning machine comprising magnetic means ( 26 ) which are destined to block the floor-cleaning group ( 7 ) in the rest position.

The invention concerns a floor-cleaning machine, and in particular, aprofessional-type floor-cleaning machine which is mainly designed forcleaning relatively extensive floors, for example inside commercialand/or small industrial premises.

Professional floor-cleaning machines are usually divided into twodifferent categories. Machines mounted on self-propelled vehicles, whichare designed to be driven by an operative, are usually called “man onboard” machines, while machines mounted on trolleys which are manuallypropelled by an operator walking behind the machine are referred to as“walk-behind” machines.

This invention concerns in particular “walk-behind” machines.

As is known, floor-cleaning machines of the walk-behind type compriseoperating groups which perform specific floor-cleaning operations, amongwhich, one or more motorised rotating brushes which scrub the surfaces,a dispenser group which dispenses a detergent liquid, and a suctiongroup to which a floor-wiping group is associated. The floor-cleaninggroup normally comprises one or more flexible rubber blades, which dragon the floor to collect the detergent liquid and the dislodged dirt.

The operating groups are usually covered by suitable plastic orsheet-metal covers, and are mounted on board a sturdy, solid supporttrolley, usually of large dimensions, which is provided with handles orgrips to be grasped by the operative in order to guide it in movementover the floor to be washed.

A common requirement in all profession floor-cleaning machines is toenable the floor-cleaning group to move vertically between a loweredwork position, in which the blades are in contact with the floor, and araised rest position, in which the blades are distanced from the floorsuch as not to scrape on it.

This movement is usually obtained by means of complicated kinematicactivating systems, typically hinged systems having one or more jointedarms, which are mounted on the support trolley and to which thefloor-cleaning group is coupled.

A drawback of professional floor-cleaning machines is therefore thatthey are rather expensive, not only because of the presence of theabove-mentioned kinematic activating systems, but also because of thepresence of all the motorisation organs and control organs which thekinematic systems require in order to function.

The aim of the present invention is to at least partly obviate thementioned drawback, by providing a floor-cleaning machine which is sosimple and ration as to enable a significant reduction in constructioncosts with respect to the floor-cleaning machines presently available.

The aim is attained by the characteristics of the invention included inthe independent claim. The dependent claims delineate preferred and/orparticularly advantageous aspects of the invention.

In particular, the invention provides a floor-cleaning machine whichcomprises a support trolley on which at least a floor-cleaning group isinstalled, which group is provided with at least a flexible blade, andis mobile on board the support trolley between a work position, in whichthe flexible blade is in contact with the floor, and a rest position, inwhich the flexible blade is distanced from the floor.

The floor-cleaning machine is provided with magnetic means which blockthe floor-cleaning group in the rest position.

Thanks to this solution, the user is effectively able to manually raisethe floor-cleaning group, displacing it from the lowered work positioninto the raised rest position, where it is solidly blocked by magneticmeans, without any need for complicated kinematic activating systems ormotors or command organs therefor, making the constructional solutionprovided very simple and consequently very economical.

Further, owing to the absence of the above-mentioned activating systems,the support trolley can advantageously be made smaller and less sturdythan the trolleys usually used for professional floor-cleaners, thusfurther contributing to the constructional simplicity and therefore tothe relative inexpensiveness of the machine.

Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will emerge fromthe following detailed description provided by way of a non-limitingexample, with the aid of the appended figures of the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a side view of a floor-cleaning machine of the invention,shown with the floor-cleaning group 7 in the rest position

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the floor-cleaning machine of FIG. 1 in whichsome components have been eliminated for better illustration of theaspects of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a larger-scale detail of FIG. 1, in which the floor-cleaninggroup 7 is in the work position.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of the transversal section of thefloor-cleaning group 7 shown in FIG. 3, in which a broken line indicatesthe flexion of the blades 70 during the dragging thereof on the floor.

The floor-cleaning machine 1 comprises a rather compact, lightweightsupport trolley 2 which exhibits a horizontal base 20 and is providedwith three support wheels, two of which are coaxial, fixed-axle, forwardwheels 21, and one of which is a pivoting rear wheel 22.

Two oppositely-positioned salient side elements 23, which are identicalin shape and preferably made of plastic, are fixed to the mobile supporttrolley 2 and laterally delimit the loading space of the mobile supporttrolley 2.

A rigid frame 3, which is preferably made from sheet steel, is hinged tothe side elements 23.

As shown in FIG. 2, the frame 3 has rounded corners and exhibits twotransverse bars, a forward transverse bar 30 and a rear transverse bar31, which are connected by two oppositely-positioned, identical, shapedlongitudinal bars 32.

The rigid frame 3 is inserted externally on the side elements 23 of themobile support trolley 2, to which mobile support trolley 2 it is hingedby means of two hinge joints 24 which singularly join a respective sideelement 23 to the adjacent longitudinal bar 32.

The hinge joints 24 are perfectly coaxial, such as to define a singleaxis of rotation A of the rigid frame 3 with respect to the mobilesupport trolley 2.

As shown in FIG. 1, the axis of rotation A is oriented such as to behorizontal when the mobile support trolley 2 is resting on the floor,and is arranged in an intermediate position along the longitudinal bars32, such that the rigid frame 3 is hinged to the mobile support trolley2 like a reciprocating lever.

The rear transverse bar 31 functions as a grip for the user pushing thefloor-cleaning machine 1.

A support plate 33 is further attached to the rigid frame 3 (see FIG. 2)at the forward transverse bar 30 position, an operating group denoted inits entirety by reference numeral 5 being installed upon the supportplate 33; the operating group comprising a rotating cleaning organ 50 towhich a gear reducer 51 is associated.

A suction group, denoted in its entirety by 6, is also mounted on thesupport plate 33, which suction group 6 schematically comprises a pumpwith the relative activating motor.

The suction group 6 is connected via a first flexible pipe 60 to aclosed collecting reservoir 61, preferably made of plastic, which isarranged on board the mobile support trolley 2, and is in turnconnected, via a second flexible pipe 62, to a floor-cleaning group 7.

The collecting reservoir 61 rests upon a lower reservoir 63, which ismounted on the base 20 of the mobile support trolley 2, which reservoir63 contains a washing liquid, typically water or possibly water mixedwith a detergent substance.

The lower reservoir 63 is connected via a flexible tube 64 to one ormore dispensing nozzles of the cleaning liquid (not shown), which areattached to the rigid frame 3 at the cleaning organ 50.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the floor-cleaning group 7 comprises two thinflexible blades 70, made of a coherent material, preferably rubber,which are oriented vertically so as to be arranged with edges thereofagainst the floor.

The flexible blades 70 are perfectly facing one another and havehorizontal lower edges located substantially at a same height, such asto be contemporaneously in contact with the floor along the wholelongitudinal development thereof.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the flexible blades 70 develop transversallywith respect to the trolley 2, from which they project on both lateralflanks, and exhibit a plan profile which is substantiallycrossbow-shaped, with the concavity thereof facing in the forwardsdirection.

The flexible blades 70 are joined together at the ends and are keptseparate by a rigid framework 71, which defines a space that is open ata bottom thereof and closed at the top thereof (see FIG. 4).

A connector 73 is associated to the rigid framework, which connector 73terminates within the space 72 and is connected to the second flexiblepipe 62 coming from the collecting reservoir 61.

As shown in FIG. 2, the rigid framework 71 is borne on a central plate74, to which it is removably joined in order to enable replacement ofthe floor-cleaning group 7 when the flexible blades 70 are worn.

A raised block 75 is welded to the central plate 74, to which the endsof two superposed con rods 76 are hinged, the con rods 76 being of equallength and parallel to one another, opposite ends of which are hinged toa support 77 fixed below the base 20 in the rear part of the trolley 2(see FIG. 3).

The hinge axes of the con rods 76 with the block 75 and the support 77are horizontal, such that the con rods 76 define a four-bar hingeenabling the floor-wiping group 7 to perform vertical movements of thefloor-cleaning group 7, keeping the flexible blades 70 parallel tothemselves.

In detail, the four-bar hinge enables the floor-wiping group 7 to bemoved between a work position, in which the flexible blades 70 are incontact with the floor, and a rest position, in which the flexibleblades 70 are raised and are not in contact with the floor (FIG. 1).

As illustrated in FIG. 5, a permanent magnet 26 is fixed on the trolley2, which can be substituted by an electromagnet or like magnetic means,which magnet 26 is positioned such as to contactingly receive the uppercon rod 76 of the four-bar hinge when the floor-cleaning group 7 is inthe raised rest position.

In this way, the magnetic attraction exerted by the magnet 26 on theferro-magnetic material of the con rod 76 enables the floor-cleaninggroup 7 to be effectively blocked in the rest position, for example whenthe floor-cleaning machine 1 is not being used.

Naturally the same result could be reached by mounting the magnet 26 onthe con rod 76 and predisposing a ferro-magnetic stop on the trolley 2;or by mounting two magnets having opposite polarity respectively on thecon rod 76 and the trolley 2, such that the magnets come into contactwhen the floor-cleaning group 7 is in the rest position.

Finally, the floor-cleaning group 7 comprises a shaped lever 78, whichis fixed on the rigid frame 71 and develops in an upwards direction,such as to make available a comfortable grip for a user who, by actingon the shaped lever 78, can overcome the magnetic force exerted by themagnet 26 and unblock the floor-cleaning group 7 from the rest position,leaving it to rest by force of gravity on the floor, thus moving intothe work position.

In use, the floor-cleaning group is in the lowered work positionillustrated in FIG. 3, with the flexible blades 70 both being in contactwith the floor. The work position of the floor-cleaning group 7 ismaintained thanks to the actual weight of the group 7 itself, whichpresses the flexible blades 70 onto the floor.

During the cleaning operations, the rotating brush 50 is rotated by thegear reducers 51, and at the same time the suction group 6 is activated,which places the collecting reservoir 61 in depression and, via theflexible conduit 62, also the space 71 defined between the flexibleblades 70 of the floor-cleaning group 7.

At the same time the command is given for the cleaning liquid to bedispensed from the lower reservoir 63.

The liquid is dispensed directly onto to bristles of the rotating brush50 such that the scrubbing action of the brush 50 and the detergentaction of the liquid enable the dirt to be removed from the floor.

The liquid mixed with dirt is then swept and collected by the flexibleblades 70 which drag on the floor, and filters into the space 72, fromwhere it is aspirated internally of the collecting reservoir 61.

When washing operations are terminated, the user grips the lever 78 andraises the floor-cleaning group 7, returning it into the rest positionin which it is blocked by the magnet 26.

Obviously, a person skilled in the art might bring numerous technicaland applicational modifications to the invention without forsaking theambit of the invention as claimed herein below.

1). A floor-cleaning machine comprising a support trolley (2), on whichsupport trolley (2) at least a floor-cleaning group (7) is installed,which floor-cleaning group (7) is provided with at least a flexibleblade (70) and is mobile on board the support trolley (2) between a workposition, in which the flexible blade (70) is in contact with a floor,and a rest position, in which the flexible blade (70) is distanced fromthe floor, characterised in that it comprises magnetic means (26) whichare destined to block the floor-cleaning group (7) in the rest position.2). The floor-cleaning machine of claim 1, characterised in that themagnetic means (26) comprise a permanent magnet or an electromagnet. 3).The floor-cleaning machine of claim 1, characterised in that themagnetic means (26) are fixed on the support trolley (2). 4). Thefloor-cleaning machine of claim 1, characterised in that thefloor-cleaning group (7) is connected to the support trolley (2) bymeans of a four-bar hinge (76), and that the magnetic means (26) aredestined to act on the four-bar hinge (76). 5). The floor-cleaningmachine of claim 1, characterised in that the floor-cleaning group (7)comprises a pair of flexible blades (70) separated by a space (72). 6).The floor-cleaning machine of claim 5, characterised in that the space(72) is in communication with a suction group (6) via a collectingreservoir (61).